The invention relates to a device for separating two zones of a passenger cabin, in particular an aircraft passenger cabin, and also to a passenger cabin interior component layout, in particular an aircraft passenger cabin interior component layout, which comprises a separating device of this kind. The invention further relates to a method of reconfiguring a passenger cabin, in particular an aircraft passenger cabin, using a separating device of this kind.
The passenger cabin of a modern commercial aircraft is usually subdivided into various zones, for example a business class zone located in a front region of the passenger cabin and a tourist class zone located in a rear region of said passenger cabin. For the purpose of separating the business class zone from the tourist class zone, use is made, as a rule, of partitions installed in a fixed manner in the passenger cabin, such as are described, for example, in DE 10 2008 031021 A1 or WO 2010/000700 A2 or in DE 10 2008 016 419 A1 or US 2009/242149 A1, or of curtains which are mounted in a fixed manner in said passenger cabin. It is also known, from DE 10 2009 041 581 A1 or US 2011/0062283 A1, for a crew rest area which is provided directly within the passenger cabin of an aircraft to be separated off by means of a curtain from a region of said cabin that surrounds said crew rest area.
In order to be able to cope with different conditions of use, it is becoming increasingly more important to organise the subdivision of an aircraft passenger cabin into different zones in the most flexible manner possible. For example it may be economically sensible, from an airline's point of view, to use the largest possible area within the passenger cabin of a commercial aircraft as a tourist class zone at certain times when there is a higher volume of flights, e.g., during the holiday season. On the other hand it may be sensible at other times, for example when there are lots of bookings by business travellers, to identify a larger area of the aircraft passenger cabin as a business class zone.